Equestrian events at the 2004 Summer Olympics featured three equestrian disciplines: dressage, eventing and jumping. All three disciplines are further divided into individual and team contests for a total of six events.
Equestrian at the 1980 Summer Olympics was represented by six events. All of them, with the exception of the Individual Jumping Grand Prix, were held in the Trade Unions' Equestrian Complex, which is situated in the Bitsa Forest Park. Individual Jumping Grand Prix was held in the Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium at Luzhniki.
Equestrian competitions at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico featured team and individual competitions in show jumping, eventing, and dressage. Mexico City proved a challenging site since it was 2,300 meters above sea level, resulting in 30% less oxygen in the air. The horses at the 1955 Pan American Games, which was also held in Mexico City, arrived a few weeks before the Games to adjust, but had difficulty in the competition. However, racehorses that competed at the same location and who were shipped in the day before, and left the day after the race, performed fine. It was discovered that although horses would adjust immediately to the high altitude during the first few days after arrival, they showed weakness and decreased performance around Day 10, which continued to Day 20. Therefore, nations were advised to ship in horses 3–4 weeks before the competition, which would allow them time to recover from the long travel, as well as adjust to the difference in altitude. Argentina, Ireland, and the USSR were the first to ship horses over, who arrived mid-September. France and Germany were the last countries to send their horses, who arrived 28 September 20 days before the competition was to start.
The equestrian events at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal included show jumping, dressage and eventing. All three disciplines, except for the Nations Cup, were held at the equestrian stadium in Bromont, which had a capacity of 15,000 spectators, and the cross-country and steeplechase were also nearby. Building this stadium provided some headache for the Organizing Committee after the original estimate of 1 million Canadian dollars increased to CAD 4,425.
The equestrian events at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich included show jumping, dressage and eventing. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions. The equestrian competitions were held at 3 sites: an existing equestrian facility at Riem for the individual show jumping and eventing competitions, the Olympic Stadium in Munich for the Nations Cup, and Nymphenburg, a Baroque palace garden, for the sold-out dressage. 179 entries, including 31 women, competed from 27 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, German Democratic Republic (GDR), France, Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the USA. The youngest participant was Kurt Maeder from Switzerland at 19 years old, while the oldest rider was Lorna Johnstone from Great Britain at 70 years old.
Equestrian sports were first included in the Olympic Games in the Summer Olympics of 1900 in Paris. They were again included in 1912, and have been included in every subsequent edition of the Games. The Olympic equestrian disciplines are dressage, eventing, and show-jumping. In each discipline, both individual and team medals are awarded. Women and men compete on equal terms.
Equestrian competitions in all three disciplines at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics were held from 9 August to 21 August at the Hong Kong Sports Institute and Sheung Yue River in Hong Kong. It was the second time that the equestrian events were hosted by a member of the IOC other than the member hosting the main games. Unlike 1956, however, the equestrian events were part of the main games, and were held within the same period.
The Equestrian events included three disciplines: dressage, eventing, and show jumping, and were held at the Deodoro Military Club.
Germany competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. A total of 439 athletes were nominated to participate in the Games. The German Olympic Sports Confederation nominated athletes on 29 May, 23 June and 15 July 2008. Reaching the qualification standard set by the relevant sport's international governing body did not automatically mean that the athlete was nominated for Beijing, as the DOSB had stricter qualification standards. An athlete needed to have a somewhat realistic chance for a top 12 position. An exception to this are the team events, as the number of competing teams is already very limited through the IOC standards, and a chance for a respective place is already given by the qualification.
The equestrian events at the 2012 Olympic Games in London were held between 28 July and 9 August at Greenwich Park. Medals were awarded in three disciplines for both individual and team competitions.
The equestrian events at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro were held between 6 and 19 August at National Equestrian Center in Deodoro. Medals were awarded in three disciplines for both individual and team competitions.
The equestrian events at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo featured three disciplines for both individual and team competitions.
The individual dressage competition of the equestrian events at the 2015 Pan American Games took place July 11–14 at the Caledon Equestrian Park.
The team of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, which competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, represented athletes from both the Republic of Ireland and those from Northern Ireland who choose it instead of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the team's twenty-second appearance at the Summer Olympics, having attended every edition since 1924 except the 1936 Summer Olympics in Germany.
Poland is scheduled to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024, celebrating the centenary of the team's debut in the same venue. Polish athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games from 1924 onwards, except for Los Angeles 1984 as part of the Soviet boycott.
Denmark is scheduled to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. Danish athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games except for the sparsely attended St. Louis 1904.
The Netherlands is scheduled to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. Dutch athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games except for two occasions: the sparsely attended 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis and the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne as a protest against the Soviet invasion of Hungary.
New Zealand is scheduled to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. It will be the country's twenty-fifth appearance as an independent nation at the Summer Olympics, having made its debut at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp and competed at every Games since.
Belgium is scheduled to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. Since the country's debut in 1900, Belgian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games except for the sparsely attended St. Louis 1904.
Equestrian competitions at the 2023 Pan American Games are scheduled to be held from October 22 to November 3. The venue for the competition is the Escuela de equitación regimiento granaderos in Quillota, Chile.
